Friday, August 26, 2011

Wisconsin Miscellaneous

Though a previous release showed voters were slightly happy with the results of the recent Wisconsin recall elections, that was because Republicans were more happy that they did not lose control of the Senate than Democrats were unhappy that they did not gain a third seat. By a one-point margin (48-47), Wisconsinites would actually prefer that Democrats control that body. Most of that is because Democrats have a three-point identification advantage in the state, as Republicans seem to now be a tad more enthusiastic about maintaining their majority than Democrats are wanting their party in charge, and independents split 43-42 for the GOP.

Wisconsin is not particularly eager to see same-sex marriage made legal. Only 39% want that, and half do not. But when voters are given three options, including civil unions, two-thirds want gay couples to at least have the same legal rights as married couples, if not the name. That includes 81% of Democrats, 71% of independents, and even 49% of Republicans.

New Sen. Ron Johnson remains a cipher to most voters in his first year in office. His name recognition is up a bit from May, but those who have an opinion on him now who didn't before are split evenly in approval and disapproval. 39% approve, 35% disapprove, and still 26% aren't sure how they feel about his performance so far. Three months ago, it was 35-31-34.

Johnson's retiring senior colleague Herb Kohl is much more beloved, at 50-31, essentially the same as the 50-30 we found in May. He has a solid 22% approval rating from Republicans. Whoever the Democrats nominate to replace him on the ticket next year is going to have to hope some of his bipartisan appeal rubs off, because we found last week that the Senate race is surprisingly close, even if Russ Feingold had chosen to run.

Wisconsin football fans are pretty confident the Green Bay Packers will win the Super Bowl this season. 55% think they will, and only 22% bet they will not.

Speaking of the Packers, the state is way down on the team’s longtime quarterback Brett Favre, who came out of retirement three years ago to play for the New York Jets and then the rival Minnesota Vikings. Only a third see him favorably, and 54% unfavorably. The state may be divided over politics, but Favre is one thing on which Democrats, Republicans, and independents almost exactly agree.

Unsurprisingly, the postseason-bound Milwaukee Brewers are overwhelmingly the state’s favorite baseball team. 71% claim the Brew Crew as their favorite club among a list of seven other Major League Baseball teams. Way behind are the Chicago Cubs at 8%, the Minnesota Twins at 4%, and the Atlanta (formerly Milwaukee) Braves, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, and New York Yankees all the favorites of 2% of Wisconsin voters, and the St. Louis Cardinals of 1%. 7% favor a different team or are not baseball fans.

Only question now is who wins the NL West, though there's a slight bit of question who wins the AL West. But Texas put some more distance between them and the Angels by pounding the man who should be this year's AL Cy Young winner tonight.